NHL Betting Picks October 27th

I had a solid night with my NHL picks last night taking the Habs as small underdogs and also taking the Rangers to beat the Bruins by 2 or more. Unfortunately, because it was a small slate I didn’t get a post up on the site. If you want my picks daily, regardless of the day, you can find them on the NHL Betting Tips Facebook page.

Florida Panthers @ Toronto Maple Leafs

The Maple Leafs have actually impressed me so far this season. Auston Matthews is the real deal and William Nylander is making me a believer too. The problem is that with such a young team, a very suspect blue line and a goaltender that isn’t standing on his head, it’s hard to win games. The Leafs have now given up 26 goals in 6 games, which is the second worst goals against per game in the league outside of the Coyotes (who’ve had a really tough schedule to start the season).

I don’t think the Panthers will have any trouble finding the back of the net against the Leafs, while the Leafs will be in tough to put up more than 3 goals against a solid Florida team that is currently 5th in the league in goals against per game.

I’m not ruling out some big plays from any of Matthews, Nylander, Marner or Kadri, but it likely won’t be enough.

Dallas Stars @ Winnipeg Jets

I’ve watched quite a few Jets games this season and they just look all out of sorts. They’re 2-4 on the season with both wins being massive third period comebacks against teams with weak defensive games in the Hurricanes and Maple Leafs. The type of chances they’re giving up makes me think they have a long way to go.

The Stars aren’t playing their best hockey at the moment either, but it’s still far better than what I’m seeing from the Jets.

Columbue Blue Jackets @ San Jose Sharks

The Jackets let me down as big underdogs against the Kings on Tuesday, losing the game in OT after carrying the lead late into the third period. That said, the game really could have gone either way and I think that’s a similar case tonight. The Blue Jackets are a much better team than they’re given credit for and the way they spread out their scoring across all of their lines should help them against a team like San Jose that is able to use Vlasic and Braun as a shut down pairing against the opponents top line.

A key to the Blue Jackets victory will of course be slowing down Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski, but with scorers and reponsible players sprinkled through each line they shouldn’t be overwhelmed by the match up in any circumstances.